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Defenders by Al Ewing #1
Defenders: There Are No Rules
Superstars Al Ewing and Javier Rodríguez reunite for a cosmos-colliding journey! When existence itself faces extraordinary threats, it needs an extraordinary defense! That’s when you call...the Defenders! Doctor Strange and The Masked Raider gather a non-team of Marvel’s weirdest, wildest heroes for a mission that will uncover the hidden architecture of reality itself! This cosmos was not the first to exist…but, if the Defenders can’t track Marvel’s oldest villain through the deepest trenches of time, it might be the last! The group must travel to the long-extinct previous cosmos, the birthplace of Galactus — but the Devourer is not the man they remember. Meet Taaia, Omnimax and more as Marvel history expands…and Doctor Strange’s makeshift Defenders face extreme jeopardy!
112 pages, Paperback
First published May 3, 2022
8 people are currently reading
144 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews
February 1, 2023
What an incredibly weird yet fun cosmic time -travel deconstructionist comic. Not for everyone, but I enjoyed the struggle to keep up
January 22, 2022
What an epic story.
Masked Raider comes in to aid the help of Dr Strange who makes a super team of defenders as they travel the different iterations of the cosmos and from there we meet Taaia, mother of Galactus and them facing off against Omnimax (cool name, terrible design) and then to the fifth cosmos and meeting Moridun and from there to the fourth and the team fights "What should be" entity and it becomes very meta until we go to the third cosmos itself and the team sees the battle between Lifebringer one and Anti-all (the eternal void that becomes Knull) and the fate of the masked raider and the defenders!
Its an epic book and I love it, its not for normal marvel fans and like it goes all cosmic and meta and makes excellent use of the present continuity and ties in it all and shows an epic multiversal event and gives us heroes facing off against impossible odds and it does well to give each character their moment from Cloud to Harpy to Silver surfer and an amazing adventure for Strange again learning the complex origins of the Marvel Universe and its fascinating. The art was the best part of the book and makes the reading experience so much better. One of the best Marvel reads!
Masked Raider comes in to aid the help of Dr Strange who makes a super team of defenders as they travel the different iterations of the cosmos and from there we meet Taaia, mother of Galactus and them facing off against Omnimax (cool name, terrible design) and then to the fifth cosmos and meeting Moridun and from there to the fourth and the team fights "What should be" entity and it becomes very meta until we go to the third cosmos itself and the team sees the battle between Lifebringer one and Anti-all (the eternal void that becomes Knull) and the fate of the masked raider and the defenders!
Its an epic book and I love it, its not for normal marvel fans and like it goes all cosmic and meta and makes excellent use of the present continuity and ties in it all and shows an epic multiversal event and gives us heroes facing off against impossible odds and it does well to give each character their moment from Cloud to Harpy to Silver surfer and an amazing adventure for Strange again learning the complex origins of the Marvel Universe and its fascinating. The art was the best part of the book and makes the reading experience so much better. One of the best Marvel reads!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 27, 2022
This one was weird as hell. Doctor Strange has assembled a group of Defenders to stop a threat. The way he summoned the team was a bit odd and their mission wasn’t really compelling to me. They traversed to the 5th cosmos. Anyone who reads a lot or Marvel knows that’s where Galactus is from. Before this universe we live in came to be, there was another before. There he was just Galan. Then they went to the 4th cosmos and eventually on to the 3rd. They were fighting people in each cosmos. I wasn’t really into anything that was going on. A cool idea that just ended up being Ewing trying too hard to be different but ended up being too weird.
January 1, 2025
A trippy cosmic time travel adventure. Not the best Defenders team. I miss the classic Defenders series. The best member this time was the Masked Raider, hopefully he will return.
May 23, 2022
Kind of confusing and pretty at the same time.
Basically Dr. Strange quickly recruits a few peeps to help him stop the end of the universe from collapsing. So each issue is a different point of view from each of the characters. The thing is, none are super interesting. The reveal of the mask rider was kind of cool but the rest? meh. But it is a pretty weird book with some weird as hell but interesting art.
But can't give this higher than a 2.5 cause I was pretty bored at times.
Basically Dr. Strange quickly recruits a few peeps to help him stop the end of the universe from collapsing. So each issue is a different point of view from each of the characters. The thing is, none are super interesting. The reveal of the mask rider was kind of cool but the rest? meh. But it is a pretty weird book with some weird as hell but interesting art.
But can't give this higher than a 2.5 cause I was pretty bored at times.
May 17, 2022
If you can make sense of this you are a better person than me. I loved the ditkoesque art and seeing a real un-team of Defenders again, but could care less about the black mask or masked raider or eternity mask or whatever it turned out to be.....
November 1, 2022
Javier Rodriguez é um artista sensacional, mas mais que isso ele é um artista conceitual completíssimo. Se a prova de sua arte magnífica e de sua construção de mundos imaginários não forem suficientes para você nesta minissérie comemorativa do aniversário dos Defensores, seu trabalho em A História do Universo Marvel, Marvel Comics 1000 e Doutor Estranho e os Feiticeiros Supremos vão ajudar a entender essa magia. Isso torna Rodriguez um dos melhores herdeiros das dimensões malucas de Steve Ditko em Doutor Estranho. Al Ewing, por sua vez, vem na sua verve existencial, cósmica e dimensional que desenvolvei também em The Ultimates do Universo 616. Como é dito no editorial da revista, os autores trazem uma nova forma de encarar o universo cósmico, místico e existencial da Marvel, de um forma que só uma equipe disfuncional como os Defensores poderia dar conta. Gostei bastante porque a HQ me pareceu também laboratorial e experimental na forma com que desenvolve as possibilidades do formato quadrinhos de contar histórias.
April 29, 2022
Al Ewing dives back into the omniverse as a new group of Defenders assemble to fight a foe that transcends realities, as well as finally answering the question - who is the Masked Raider?
Honestly, letting Ewing loose on the Marvel universe is always going to be fun. He knows how to weave an entertaining and thought-provoking yarn even before adding in an expansion of the way the Marvel Universe works. He's done it before (in Ultimates, among other places), and he does it here with gusto and a reverence for the Silver Age of comics that's rarely seen nowadays when it's much easier to just point and laugh at the silly quirks of those older comics.
Strange's Defenders are the most ecclectic group of characters you've probably seen in a while. Some of them rely on some pretty deep cut continuity like Cloud (who even I've never heard of), but that doesn't stop the enjoyment even if you're less than familiar with them. And by the end of these five issues, you'll probably have found a new favourite.
And then there's that Masked Raider thing. Set up during Marvel Comics #1000 a few years back, it's a story thread that's mostly gone unresolved, probably because Marvel had other events and things planned (and then that pesky pandemic started), but Ewing circles back to it here and manages to tie everything neatly back together. It's an obvious ending, but it's one that makes perfect sense in terms of the story he's telling about redemption and second chances.
Of course, if you're going diving into sci-fi concepts and having some adventures back through space and time, then Javier Rodriguez is your man for the job. Even when things get super-abstract in the lower dimensions, Rodriguez is always up for the challenge and manages to make a sometimes-confusing story easy to digest. And you can always just look at the pretty pictures if you're getting lost in Ewing's philosophising.
The Defenders (at least variations like this, not the street level ones) are known for their out of the box adventures, and this one's no exception. At times insane and at others oddly heartfelt, There Are No Rules is a perfect way to describe Al Ewing's writing style and Javier Rodriguez' artwork. And there's no rules, then why not go balls-to-the-wall-crazy with it?
Honestly, letting Ewing loose on the Marvel universe is always going to be fun. He knows how to weave an entertaining and thought-provoking yarn even before adding in an expansion of the way the Marvel Universe works. He's done it before (in Ultimates, among other places), and he does it here with gusto and a reverence for the Silver Age of comics that's rarely seen nowadays when it's much easier to just point and laugh at the silly quirks of those older comics.
Strange's Defenders are the most ecclectic group of characters you've probably seen in a while. Some of them rely on some pretty deep cut continuity like Cloud (who even I've never heard of), but that doesn't stop the enjoyment even if you're less than familiar with them. And by the end of these five issues, you'll probably have found a new favourite.
And then there's that Masked Raider thing. Set up during Marvel Comics #1000 a few years back, it's a story thread that's mostly gone unresolved, probably because Marvel had other events and things planned (and then that pesky pandemic started), but Ewing circles back to it here and manages to tie everything neatly back together. It's an obvious ending, but it's one that makes perfect sense in terms of the story he's telling about redemption and second chances.
Of course, if you're going diving into sci-fi concepts and having some adventures back through space and time, then Javier Rodriguez is your man for the job. Even when things get super-abstract in the lower dimensions, Rodriguez is always up for the challenge and manages to make a sometimes-confusing story easy to digest. And you can always just look at the pretty pictures if you're getting lost in Ewing's philosophising.
The Defenders (at least variations like this, not the street level ones) are known for their out of the box adventures, and this one's no exception. At times insane and at others oddly heartfelt, There Are No Rules is a perfect way to describe Al Ewing's writing style and Javier Rodriguez' artwork. And there's no rules, then why not go balls-to-the-wall-crazy with it?
March 12, 2022
Sorry, but I absolutely hated this.
The art was cartoony and ugly.
Each issue was a separate "boss battle" where one character got the spotlight and, even then, it felt like all the characters barely had anything to do and had nothing interesting to say. And, since the story is just about going to different places and beating up different monsters, it felt like it barely had a plot. Also, some of the plot points that it did have were just bad .
It was trying to be trippy and weird but it felt like Ewing was trying way too hard to make it trippy and weird and so it just fell flat.
The Masked Raider is a Gary Stu character with a dumb name, and this entire book felt like Ewing wanted to do a Masked Raider book but had to do a Defenders book instead but he still kind of made it mainly a Masked Raider vehicle. In fact, the Masked Raider is so darn cool and perfect that he feels like a sad attempt at an author insert character.
If you are picking this up for the Silver Surfer you can skip it; he's barely in it at all.
The art was cartoony and ugly.
Each issue was a separate "boss battle" where one character got the spotlight and, even then, it felt like all the characters barely had anything to do and had nothing interesting to say. And, since the story is just about going to different places and beating up different monsters, it felt like it barely had a plot. Also, some of the plot points that it did have were just bad .
It was trying to be trippy and weird but it felt like Ewing was trying way too hard to make it trippy and weird and so it just fell flat.
The Masked Raider is a Gary Stu character with a dumb name, and this entire book felt like Ewing wanted to do a Masked Raider book but had to do a Defenders book instead but he still kind of made it mainly a Masked Raider vehicle. In fact, the Masked Raider is so darn cool and perfect that he feels like a sad attempt at an author insert character.
If you are picking this up for the Silver Surfer you can skip it; he's barely in it at all.
May 9, 2022
An Artistic Journey Through the Essence of Comic Books
What we have here is an odd start and a surreal ending that goes over peoples heads especially a story involving the Eternity Mask. There's just so much potential to be found in Marvel's rich history to pick up and develop.
But beyond that is a journey through the cosmos that push random characters to their very limit. Just the scenes involving Cloud are mesmerizing and enlightening as each chapter that passes looks like an awakening. Some characters and their dynamics are pretty good to witness, like Silver Surfer's interactions with the baby Galactus and him getting replaced by Galan's bombastic mom Taaia.
And the artwork by Javier Rodriguez is just perfect in how it expresses situations without missing a beat of the story. The scenes with that four faced hulk are phenomenal.
This is one title to pay attention to for the epic scale alone.
What we have here is an odd start and a surreal ending that goes over peoples heads especially a story involving the Eternity Mask. There's just so much potential to be found in Marvel's rich history to pick up and develop.
But beyond that is a journey through the cosmos that push random characters to their very limit. Just the scenes involving Cloud are mesmerizing and enlightening as each chapter that passes looks like an awakening. Some characters and their dynamics are pretty good to witness, like Silver Surfer's interactions with the baby Galactus and him getting replaced by Galan's bombastic mom Taaia.
And the artwork by Javier Rodriguez is just perfect in how it expresses situations without missing a beat of the story. The scenes with that four faced hulk are phenomenal.
This is one title to pay attention to for the epic scale alone.
May 16, 2024
I had a hard time following the villain/s in this book. Also, as usual with team books, I feel like I would have gotten more from this story if I knew each character better individually.
I did like that each issue was primarily focused on one member of the team. Also, the interconnected single-page comics at the end about the mask were interesting.
I did like that each issue was primarily focused on one member of the team. Also, the interconnected single-page comics at the end about the mask were interesting.
April 17, 2025
Ewing y Rodríguez nos llevan de paseo por los universos Marvel anteriores al actual, comenzando por aquel del que llegó nuestro Galactus y llegando hasta dos encarnaciones anteriores. La excusa es una persecución muy loca con una alineación de Defensores inesperada de la que pronto desaparece Estela Plateada. La historia mejora a medida que Rodríguez se ve obligado a recrear esos universos previos donde la magia y la misma naturaleza de la realidad no se parecen en nada a la nuestra. Esto le permite liberar la imaginación, tanto en la representación como en el uso del color plano, en unas páginas muy disfrutables. No ocurre lo mismo con la narrativa, bastante más contenida de lo que podría haber sido (y le hemos visto en otros títulos). El resultado es un tebeo ideal para quienes pasamos de la continuidad: autocontenido, al pie, sin alardes y con sus guiños a Marvel en diversos grados.
July 4, 2022
Quite the motley crue. I didn't realize how powerful the Eternity Mask is.
July 3, 2024
IRCB 2024 Reading Challenge
Read for a gorgeous romp through the 3rd-8th cosmos, more Harpy Betty, and Taaia’s “generous” use of “Golden Age” quotation marks
Read for a gorgeous romp through the 3rd-8th cosmos, more Harpy Betty, and Taaia’s “generous” use of “Golden Age” quotation marks
February 14, 2022
Oh, for all that I loved Immortal Hulk, this sort of glorious cosmic nonsense is what Al Ewing really does best. Doctor Strange and the Silver Surfer, veterans of the eponymous non-team, are joined by new faces including Ewing's hobby horse the Masked Raider for a journey back through the prior iterations of the Marvel universe, from realms of pure superscience to the cosmos in which magic was born. Javier Rodriguez' art binds it all together, evoking the craziness of Ditko dimensions or Kirby space while also keeping a tighter handle on, y'know, actually looking good. This sort of 'one louder' storytelling can easily grate when it feels like mere one-upmanship – looking at you, Cates and Aaron – but when Al dives back into a prehistory that's even pre- everyone else's prehistory, yah boo sucks and no returns, it always comes across more like a dancer or a showman than an obnoxious child insisting their dad is hardest. Meaning scenes which could easily have come across as stupid – Strange flirting with Galactus' mum! – are instead a delight. Everything down to Stan's old editorial buzzwords gets woven in, and while it was inevitable that sooner or later a Marvel comic would show a copy of Douglas Wolk's All Of The Marvels, I don't think there could ever have been a more fitting candidate than this, being likewise a love letter to the whole living, thrilling mess of it.
July 12, 2023
I just couldn’t get into this book. I finished it because it wasn’t very long, but everything happened so quickly without much time to get to know anybody or really understand what was happening…. It just felt like it wanted to be trippy for the sake of being trippy. And I’ve read books like that and enjoyed them overall (I’m a sucker for some trippy artwork), but none of the art was ever cool or weird enough to justify the fact that I couldn’t get a real foothold with the plot or characters to stabilize me throughout the insanity. There were some nice ideas here and some nice themes (fighting the void, etc.), but I’ve read other graphic novels that do it so much better. Maybe there’s some companion book or story that would have helped this make sense, but, ideally, a really good graphic novel can stand on its own even if you don’t have the wider story readily available. This was the book I had in my bag to read a few pages of when my lunch break was almost over and I’d just finished the graphic novel I really cared about reading. That might be harsh, but, like I said, I’ve read way better stuff in this similar genre and also by this author. I’m sure the creative team did their best with what they had, but it all just felt rather rushed to me.
February 28, 2022
Other books and other writers have done it better. Don't get me started on the Masked Rider. It's a character gimmicked beyond reason. It could be Mr. Ewing's pet project, but it just feels like a idea copied from another studio.
If you enjoy mind bending universe jumping, this will hit the spot.
If you enjoy mind bending universe jumping, this will hit the spot.
January 27, 2022
A perfect coalescence of ideas and talent.
Rodriguez' intricate, colorful and expressive art work is the perfect vehicle for Ewing's galaxy-brained understanding of the ins and outs of Marvel's multiverse.
Rodriguez' intricate, colorful and expressive art work is the perfect vehicle for Ewing's galaxy-brained understanding of the ins and outs of Marvel's multiverse.
July 29, 2024
I picked this up from the library again and wasn’t sure if I had read it before! Ha! It was good the second time. Great art and it captured Dr Strange’s personality well. Always good to see the Silver Surfer too! The shout outs to Jack Kirby’s legacy was fun also.
August 8, 2024
This is a book that will be for some people and not for others, unfortunately I fall on the ladder, it has some gorgeous visuals but a story that was too complicated for me to grasp from issue 2, I don’t understand a single thing from the finale
December 3, 2022
Bewildering. Borrows a structure from a tarot reading, and spins a daft story out of it. Pretty good cartooning though.
April 30, 2024
The story was beyond me mostly, but the art was cool.
May 30, 2022
Ewing is always hit or miss for me. When it comes to the cosmic stuff, he has lots of ideas, some of them are very cool. His imagination seems boundless and it reminds me a lot of Morrison's work. This fertile ground of fascinating concepts, peeks into other realities and possibilities can be exciting and fun, but often times it's just confusing. The actual narrative gets lost in this amalgamation of ideas, and I think that's what happened in this volume.
This book actually serves two purposes: one is what is promised on the cover. Doctor Strange pulls the Defenders together again to stop yet another threat to the universe. Along the way is where Ewing creates a multitude of ideas as they travel back in time at the cosmic level. I'm not versed enough in classic Marvel cosmic concepts to know whether Ewing is feeding off those or creating his own and I also can't tell if he's doing it in a way that ties everything together or if he's just randomly throwing stuff out there. Each issue is narrated by a different character, which gives some unique perspective on each of them.
The second purpose is an adventure with the Masked Raider. Ewing spent many pages in Marvel Comics #1000 and #1001 to extract bits and pieces of Marvel Comics history and weave them together into a narrative that drives the purpose and continuation of this character (those pages are included in this volume which was very helpful). I admit there is fun in how he put these clues and ideas together and if you are interested, that unfolding of the mystery can be exciting and a change of pace from the rest of the superhero fare from Marvel. Whether the character is strong enough to garner a fan following remains to be seen.
To me the biggest plus of this volume was the art by Rodriguez. Every page has a different layout but each still moves the story along. It's a classic style that reminds me of Darwyn Cooke or Marcos Martin. Lots of bright colors highlight every page.
Overall, it was easy to get caught up in the adventure and the possibilities but the story gets weighted down by far-reaching concepts that may not really matter. Unfortunately, many times when magic is involved, there's some "hand waving" (no pun intended) to wrap things up. Again, the purpose seems to be just to give another story to the Masked Raider.
This book actually serves two purposes: one is what is promised on the cover. Doctor Strange pulls the Defenders together again to stop yet another threat to the universe. Along the way is where Ewing creates a multitude of ideas as they travel back in time at the cosmic level. I'm not versed enough in classic Marvel cosmic concepts to know whether Ewing is feeding off those or creating his own and I also can't tell if he's doing it in a way that ties everything together or if he's just randomly throwing stuff out there. Each issue is narrated by a different character, which gives some unique perspective on each of them.
The second purpose is an adventure with the Masked Raider. Ewing spent many pages in Marvel Comics #1000 and #1001 to extract bits and pieces of Marvel Comics history and weave them together into a narrative that drives the purpose and continuation of this character (those pages are included in this volume which was very helpful). I admit there is fun in how he put these clues and ideas together and if you are interested, that unfolding of the mystery can be exciting and a change of pace from the rest of the superhero fare from Marvel. Whether the character is strong enough to garner a fan following remains to be seen.
To me the biggest plus of this volume was the art by Rodriguez. Every page has a different layout but each still moves the story along. It's a classic style that reminds me of Darwyn Cooke or Marcos Martin. Lots of bright colors highlight every page.
Overall, it was easy to get caught up in the adventure and the possibilities but the story gets weighted down by far-reaching concepts that may not really matter. Unfortunately, many times when magic is involved, there's some "hand waving" (no pun intended) to wrap things up. Again, the purpose seems to be just to give another story to the Masked Raider.
November 18, 2022
Going through all the Defenders has been fun. All that left is the recent Defenders (which may as well be Heroes for Hire with Luke Cage and Iron Fist), but first There are No Rules by Ewing and Rodriguez.
This series of stories was a bit -- for me -- messy. It was confusing and different, which I usually like more, but for some reason, it felt unauthentic. I was happy to see Cloud again and the Masked Raider was a cool Old Marvel character from way back, but it felt convoluted. I have been reading Marvel since the sixties and I have collected most of the titles since the seventies and still, I was kind of lost with the mixed bag of what was happening.
I wanted to love it. I like Al Ewing's writing, but this felt like a thrown together idea bringing back Masked Raider, but I love the idea that the Eternity Mask has been around since Camelot and the Black Knight (at least from Ewing's tales in Marvel 1000 and 1001). That was fascinating.
The tarot pulling the defenders together was different and Dr. Strange's insistence that the magic was doing all the work--just felt wrong. Within the pages he was called Master of Magic and once Sorcerer Supreme. It was a weird thing.
Anyway, I liked it because I thought it was beautiful to see and I liked the characters involved. Just wish the story got a chance to breathe through the telling and not be jammed up and too quick to let my mind enjoy a page before the direction changed again.
This series of stories was a bit -- for me -- messy. It was confusing and different, which I usually like more, but for some reason, it felt unauthentic. I was happy to see Cloud again and the Masked Raider was a cool Old Marvel character from way back, but it felt convoluted. I have been reading Marvel since the sixties and I have collected most of the titles since the seventies and still, I was kind of lost with the mixed bag of what was happening.
I wanted to love it. I like Al Ewing's writing, but this felt like a thrown together idea bringing back Masked Raider, but I love the idea that the Eternity Mask has been around since Camelot and the Black Knight (at least from Ewing's tales in Marvel 1000 and 1001). That was fascinating.
The tarot pulling the defenders together was different and Dr. Strange's insistence that the magic was doing all the work--just felt wrong. Within the pages he was called Master of Magic and once Sorcerer Supreme. It was a weird thing.
Anyway, I liked it because I thought it was beautiful to see and I liked the characters involved. Just wish the story got a chance to breathe through the telling and not be jammed up and too quick to let my mind enjoy a page before the direction changed again.
September 7, 2022
Javier Rodriguez absolutely sings in the artwork for Defenders: There Are No Rules and Al Ewing crafts such a cosmically dense narrative that it's practically incomprehensible. Still, I liked the book.
The Masked Rider pops into the Sanctum Sanctorum to demand that Doctor Strange help him collect a time-traveling villain. Strange uses altogether too much magic to conjure a team of helpmates, a real grab-bag of heroes (which is fun!). Before the reader can get a handle on all these additional faces, we're racing back in time - so far back in time, in fact, that we enter previous cosmoses.
This is where things get heady. I'm not sure if Ewing is dipping deep into Marvel lore and finding weird goodies or if he's just supremely creative / high as a kite. In any case, the different cosmoses are neat and odd and elaborate. The central mystery is resolved in an entirely deflating manner and then...it's all over? I'm not sure what to think about Defenders: There Are No Rules, ultimately, but I was quite absorbed while reading.
I do know what to think about the Marvel #1000 issue tacked on at the end: it's a skippable mess, each page attempting to tell an individual story that coheres into a narrative about the Masked Rider and the Eternity mask. It's a failure in that regard.
The Masked Rider pops into the Sanctum Sanctorum to demand that Doctor Strange help him collect a time-traveling villain. Strange uses altogether too much magic to conjure a team of helpmates, a real grab-bag of heroes (which is fun!). Before the reader can get a handle on all these additional faces, we're racing back in time - so far back in time, in fact, that we enter previous cosmoses.
This is where things get heady. I'm not sure if Ewing is dipping deep into Marvel lore and finding weird goodies or if he's just supremely creative / high as a kite. In any case, the different cosmoses are neat and odd and elaborate. The central mystery is resolved in an entirely deflating manner and then...it's all over? I'm not sure what to think about Defenders: There Are No Rules, ultimately, but I was quite absorbed while reading.
I do know what to think about the Marvel #1000 issue tacked on at the end: it's a skippable mess, each page attempting to tell an individual story that coheres into a narrative about the Masked Rider and the Eternity mask. It's a failure in that regard.
May 11, 2022
I haven't read much Strange-lead Defenders material, but this is what I hoped it would be. At first, the writing can come off as obtuse or awkward, but by the end I feel like I understood what Ewing was doing, and it turned out to be a trippy, abstract, inter-dimensional adventure. The team members happen upon each other, and basically end up trailing a dude who's mucking around with existential things not to be mucked with. We see...a whole lot, as they travel to different worlds and dimensions in pursuit, add a team member (who is a very interesting idea), and tackle concepts themselves. It's very weird, very cool, and incredibly illustrated by Javier Rodriguez. I think some story elements could maybe have been tighter, or team chemistry more dynamic, but overall I really enjoyed this and would highly recommend it, especially for people who like trippy stories. Al Ewing and Javier Rodriguez continue to be at the top of their respective fields, and I can't wait for the follow-up series, Defenders: Beyond, and hope its all collected in hardcover.
*For what it's worth, I read this digitally and would suggest reading this in physical if possible as it would be a better read for the writing and the art.
*For what it's worth, I read this digitally and would suggest reading this in physical if possible as it would be a better read for the writing and the art.
July 7, 2024
Como é dito na introdução desse volume, os Defensores não são bem uma equipe. Eles não têm membros fixo, não tem um líder, nem uma sede ou quartel general, mas já enfrentaram algumas ameaças que nem alguns grupos dos mais tradicionais já enfrentaram. Mas mesmo sendo um grupo disfuncional, e na maioria das vezes eles não querem trabalhar juntos, eles funcionam muito bem. O Dr. Estranho normalmente é quem convoca o grupo em momentos de necessidade e é o que acontece aqui. O Cavaleiro Mascarado surge no Sanctum Santorum e fala da ameaça da magia temporal. Ele reúne o Surfista Prateado, a Harpia e a Nuvem e vão numa viagem psicodélica através dos tempos. A história em si não tem nada demais. O que deixa tudo sensacional são os desenhos e as cores do Javier Rodríguez. A maneira como ele conta a história faz toda a diferença. Queria ver algo mais deles.
January 30, 2025
I’m writing this after my second read through. This book is insane. It is genuinely hard to put my thoughts into words. The art is truly incredible. It manages to stay consistently incredible throughout the whole series which can be hard to do. The colors of this book are almost their own character and the panel layout is so fun and dynamic. The story is super weird and fun and I love the characters. My only minor complaint is that since it builds on a lot of Ewings work it can be a little hard to follow but I found on my first read through I was a little lost. My second read through was after going back and reading a lot of the context and that enhanced the experience. I also found myself noticing things within the book that I never noticed before and that really added to the experience. Overall this book was one of my favorite experiences reading comics.
June 23, 2023
Old school cosmic thrills abound as Doctor Strange is sucked into a quest to defend the multiverse alongside the mysterious Masked Raider and a handful of disparate heroes picked by Strange’s magic Tarot deck. Together they venture backwards through time and space in search of Carlo Zota in an attempt to stop him curtailing existence whether by design or misfortune. The colours are glorious throughout harking back to the likes of Jack Kirby and it was a wonderful introduction (for me) to the character of Taaia, the mother of Galactus.
It’s weird and wondrous and a fully different take on the Defenders than we’ve seen in the recent past. Full of surprises and I imagine will stick long in the memory.
It’s weird and wondrous and a fully different take on the Defenders than we’ve seen in the recent past. Full of surprises and I imagine will stick long in the memory.
August 6, 2022
Always a fan of stories about the concept and power of stories. Some of the initial plot (jumping through different ages and having members of the adventuring party make a sacrifice) felt a little repetitive at first, but by the different ages, especially the world of archetypes and the final fundamental age of conflict, were cool ideas. Also it's interesting to see the concept of underlying previous ages (not sure how new that is to the overarching cosmology of Marvel). The series of pages at the end showing the progress of the mask tying together the history of Marvel comics was really cool too.
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